UEFA trial extra assistants to help referees
UEFA is looking at a new refereeing system whereby the referee is helped by four rather than two assistants.
Europe’s governing body has been trialling the idea at an Under-19 tournament in Slovenia where two extra assistants were behind the goalline.
Michel Platini:
“The goal is to have one referee with more eyes. We do not want to change the philosophy of the game - we do not want to have two or three referees.”
The event in Slovenia, which is for the Group Five qualifiers for the Uefa European Under-19 Championship, runs until Wednesday. Further trials are planned for Groups One and Seven, in Hungary and Cyprus, later this year.
I’m in two minds about this move. On one hand it’s good to have extra eyes watching the penalty area so that key incidents aren’t missed. On the other hand the third referee is not going to be able to help with goal-line and touch-line decisions. It’s a good step forward and will hopefully decrease the pressure on the man in the middle AND get more penalty-box decisions right, but there are some areas where technology definitely helps (goal-line and post-game review) and UEFA should trial them and adopt them as well.
Well its for focusing on incidents which happens in the penalty area, such as fouls or misconduct. And that will make it five referees for a game. Though it may be helpful to monitor the blind areas, the refree should hold the whistle meaning to stop the game or not should be decided on the man in the middle. The extra 2 refrees should be having the same power as the linesmen. I think its a good idea. This way the entire 4 areas of the field are covered by assistants and the referee take full control in the centre. Great move for once by the authorites.
I agree it should be a good thing, hopefully. Not nearly enough but good nevertheless. About the part with getting the penalty-box decisions right, I’ll wait to see how it works out. There’s a potential problem here, incidents in the 2 boxes will be judged by 2 different people (together with the central ref, but still), which may result in inconsistent decisions favoring one of the sides. They’ll probably rotate them in the 2 halves (actually: leave them in place cause the teams rotate), but you know how it is, the first PK matters most.
I have to ask though, wouldn’t it be more sensible to let this penalty-box ref do his job via video assistance ? He could spot the goal-line decisions much easier, besides there would be only one needed then, since the play cannot happen in both boxes at the same time. I know, it won’t be done cause it would be a step in the right direction. I was just saying.